Chocobo Hunting
by shippudenfanatic
Summary: Zack decides to take Aerith chocobo riding for her birthday. The riding part? Easy. But as for catching them...well, that's a different story...


_**Author's Note: **__First of all, as always, I have to give my kudos to Chibipinkbunny. Not only does she take the time to look my writing over all the time, but I also stole her page break since I lost all of mine... What in the world would I do without my Sensei Bunneh? Also thanks to Ohjay and theassassinrenevaron for telling me that they liked the rough draft and assuring me that I don't suck. :D And finally, stupid disclaimer stuff, these characters are property of Square Enix, blah, blah, blah…_

Zack cursed under his breath as he felt yet another plant crumple under his boot. Sighing, he carefully stepped backwards onto the rain-soaked floorboards of the church, examining the flower for damage. Its flattened petals stared up at him accusingly. He looked up to see Aerith across the garden with her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow at him. He raised his hands in a gesture of defeat, an apologetic smile on his face.

"Sorry, Aerith..."

She shook her head, laughing softly. "You have to be pretending you're this clumsy..."

Zack rolled his eyes in exaggeration. "Oh, well let's see you try to walk around in ShinRa boots and not trample everything."

"You think it's just the boots that are the problem?"

"Well if you're going to treat me that way, then I quit."

Zack sat down at the edge of the garden as Aerith quickly made her way over to him. She settled down by his side and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Your birthday's next week, right?" Zack asked softly. She nodded. "You still haven't told me what you want for a present."

She pursed her lips. "Well, LOVELESS is playing Saturday night, right? What do you think of going with me to see it?"

Zack grimaced. "It's not just playing that one night, is it?"

"Yes. Why?"

Zack nodded, biting his lip. "Erm..."

Aerith cocked her head to the side slightly. "What?"

Zack sighed and reached for one of the numerous lilies in front of him, his large fingers tracing the edges of the petals. "I'm getting sent to Mideel next week to deal with a monster problem. I'm not sure if I'll be back in time..." Aerith frowned slightly and hung her head. "...which is why I'm going to have to think of something brilliant for us to do before I leave."

Aerith looked back up at him and grinned. "Do you have anything in mind?"

Zack chuckled. "Not a clue." He stretched his arms above his head and laid back on the floor. "Hmm...how much do you like chocobos?"

_**.:`'~ ж~'`:...:`'~ ж~'`:...:`'~ ж~'`:.**_

Zack sighed as the fourth chocobo he'd tried to catch thus far turned tail and fled, its powerful legs kicking up dirt as they worked to get the huge bird away from the SOLDIER. He glared after it for a long while before throwing his Seal materia to the ground in frustration. It bounced lightly off of the earth, rolling to a stop a few feet away from where it had landed.

"Chocobo riding...what in the hell was I thinking?" He walked over to retrieve the orb. It glowed faintly at his touch, ready to release its power at a moment's notice. Carefully he set it back into a slot of his armlet. "Figures they'd be immune to Seal spells..."

A small rustle from a nearby bush caught his attention. He spun around to see another chocobo grazing a few feet away. He smiled to himself as he slowly stepped towards it, trying to get within spell range. Once he was, he rested his fingers on a Manipulate materia. "This should work!" Just then, the chocobo noticed him standing there. It huffed and charged past him before he could complete the spell, knocking him to the ground.

Gritting his teeth, Zack shot up and ran after the bird, activating a Blizzard materia. "Oh, no you don't!" He felt power shoot out of the materia as the chocobo's legs were encased in ice, effectively pinning it in place.

With a shout of triumph, he pranced over to stop directly in front of the bird. "Ha! Looks like you're-" Before Zack could finish his sentence, the chocobo struggled enough to shatter the thick layer of ice encasing him. It again charged forward, this time kicking Zack in the chest and knocking the wind out of him as it dashed by. He flew backwards, landing on his rump. He sat there for a few moments, catching his breath. Finally, he stood up, rubbing his chest. "There's got to be a better way to do this..."

_**.:`'~ ж~'`:...:`'~ ж~'`:...:`'~ ж~'`:.**_

Upon his return to Midgar, Zack headed down to the Slums marketplace, hoping to find something that would help with chocobo hunting. The first few minutes of browsing revealed nothing of interest, but then he saw a tiny little stall shoved into the corner of the market. It had a low hanging roof from which different herbs and a sole chocobo plush were hung. A small faded sign nailed to the front of the stall had a miniature drawing of a moogle riding a chocobo with "Choco Galore" in big red letters on the top of the sign. A small old woman in a lilac dress sat behind the counter, sipping what looked to be coffee, and flipping through an old gardening magazine.

The woman looked up with a smile as she heard Zack approach. "Good morning!" Her voice was rough and a little wheezy, but kind nonetheless. "Can I-Oh, that looks painful..." She trailed off, her brow furrowing as she looked at Zack's chest. He looked down as well to discover deep scratches across his upper arm that snaked around the front of his shoulder and into the confines of his sweater. It took him a few moments to realize their origins. _Must have been the chocobo from earlier…_He cursed inwardly.

"How did that happen?" She asked.

Zack shrugged. "I was trying to catch chocobos with a Seal materia earlier, and they didn't seem too keen on the idea of being caught. Then when I tried a Blizzard spe-"

"Wait. You tried to catch a wild chocobo with Seal magic?" Zack nodded.

The old woman sighed and looked at him sympathetically. "You're not particularly bright for someone your age, are you?"

Zack looked down and scratched the back of his head. "Thought it was a good idea at the time..." he mumbled.

The woman shook her head as she slowly stood up. She reached for a few bundles of herbs from the ceiling and laid them on the counter, and then reached for a small metal box that lay by her feet. She took a gold key out of the pocket on her dress, and opened the box to reveal four dark purple materia. She gently picked one of them up. It glowed almost euphorically in her hand, as if it were happy at the thought of being used.

"The materia attracts chocobos," she said. "Once you find one, feed it some of these," she gestured to the herbs on the counter, "And they'll love you forever. Now, that'll be 3000 gil."

Zack gaped at her. "3000 gil? For a measly Chocobo Lure?" When he received nothing but a stare in return, he harrumphed and took his wallet out of his pocket.

As Zack walked away from the stand, he clicked the materia into an empty slot of his sword to check its status. He frowned, thinking he'd made a mistake. How was it mastered already? He turned back to ask. The old woman raised an eyebrow at him. "You didn't pay 750 honey, you paid 3000. You get what you pay for." Then she waved him off dismissively, returning to her magazine. Smiling widely, Zack turned back around and continued on his way.

_**.:`'~ ж~'`:...:`'~ ж~'`:...:`'~ ж~'`:.**_

Lush green grass squished underfoot as Zack walked slowly through the field. He stopped and looked around. Seeing nothing of consequence, he fished in his pocket for his Chocobo Lure materia. He rolled it around on his palm, examining it, before clicking it into a slot of his armlet and activating it.

"Hmm...I guess there's nothing else to do but wait." He sat down where he stood and laid back, putting his arms behind his head to use as a pillow. After tracing the edges of the clouds with his eyes for several minutes, he started to doze off- that is, until he felt something peck at his hip.

Gasping, he bolted upright, coming face-to-face with a yellow baby chocobo. It cocked its head curiously to one side, and then to the other. "Kweh?"

Chuckling at his overreaction, he reached forward and scratched the chocobo's neck. Its beady eyes seemed to close of their own accord as it made a soft sound that sounded like a cat purring. Then Zack heard some footsteps behind him. He turned to find four other chocobos, all with the same curious and expectant expression. "Wark?" Looking past them, Zack could see five more chocobos trotting over to see what the commotion was about.

Slowly turning around, Zack was amazed to count twenty one chocobos. The birds came together to form a circle, closing in on him. Shocked, he looked down at the Lure materia. It pulsed brightly. Concentrating, he deactivated it. The chocobos suddenly all jumped and looked at each other, as if breaking out of a trance. A few turned and started to slowly walk away.

"Kweh!" The baby chocobo pecked at Zack's hip again, this time catching the end of its beak on his back pocket. The entire piece of fabric ripped off and floated to the ground, along with the small bundle of greens it had formerly concealed. With an elated chirp, the small chocobo started to peck at the greens. The entire colony of chocobos froze, looking from Zack to the greens and back to Zack, putting the puzzle pieces together in their feathery heads.

Zack uneasily took a step back. "Come on guys, I didn't bring enough for everyone..." For every small step backwards that Zack took, the legion of chocobos strode forward, almost menacingly. Then one of the larger chocobos made a loud sound akin to a battle cry. "KWEH!"

As the cry echoed through the plain, the chocobos charged forward, determined to get their greens. With a startled shout, Zack turned tail and fled, clumsily clicking a Dash materia into his armlet and activating it as he did. Even with the materia, the chocobos gradually caught up, gaining on him inch by inch.

"I wanted two chocobos, not twenty!" Zack screamed. He jumped ten feet in the air as he felt a chocobo nip at his other back pocket. "HELP!"

_**.:`'~ ж~'`:...:`'~ ж~'`:...:`'~ ж~'`:.**_

Aerith hummed softly to herself as she strolled through her garden, scanning for weeds. She sighed contentedly as she looked over the flowers. The afternoon light that streamed in through the church windows colored the petals with vibrant hues. She paused when she heard the door open. Smiling, she turned to face the SOLDIER as the familiar sound of ShinRa boots clunking across the hardwood floor echoed through the building.

"Hey, Aerith!" Zack practically sprinted over to her and grabbed her hand, dragging her to the door. "Come on, I've got your birthday present ready!" Aerith laughed at his childish energy as she struggled to keep up with his long stride. They walked all the way to the end of the slums, Zack practically skipping the whole way. As the Midgar gate loomed closer with every step, Aerith stopped. "Zack, where are we going?"

Zack had already walked ten feet before he noticed that she was no longer by her side. He ran back to her. "Oh, just outside Midgar."

She frowned. "Zack..."

He sighed. "The sky's not that bad Aerith, really." She bit her lip for a second, and then tentatively started walking again.

A few minutes later, they stood about a half mile outside of Midgar. Zack turned to Aerith, a huge grin on his face. "Okay, close your eyes." She shut her eyes tight, putting her hands over them. "Don't peek, no matter what." She heard the grass rustle as Zack walked away, and a wolf whistle in the distance a few minutes later. Then she heard what she thought was rolling thunder, until she realized that it was hundreds of footsteps. Suddenly, all she could hear was the gentle breeze rustle the grass.

"...Zack?"

"I'm back." His voice came from right in front of her. "You can open your eyes now."

Aerith moved her hands away from her face and gasped. Standing before her was a herd of at least thirty chocobos. Sitting atop the largest one was Zack, a proud grin on his face. He gestured around him at the large birds. "Take your pick!"

Aerith stood gaping at the chocobos before blinking and looking at Zack in confusion. "What are you going to do with all of them?" Zack opened his mouth to respond, then closed it and scratched the back of his head. "I hadn't really thought about that..."

After a moment, Aerith shook her head and laughed. "Hmm... I pick... that one." She pointed to a small deep yellow bird. She slowly walked over to it and managed to climb on without much difficulty. Zack whistled again, and the herd started to walk forward.

Aerith looked back at the group of chocobos behind her.

"Zack?"

"Hmm?"

"How did you find so many chocobos?" she asked incredulously.

Zack laughed. "That's an interesting story, actually..."

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